Strength training has become a widely practiced activity for both men and women. In addition to being a sport in and of itself, strength training is also utilized as a conditioning and strengthening exercise for other sports, such as football, basketball, and baseball. Furthermore, athletes who rely on agility, such as tennis players, also benefit from strength training.
In sports, protective equipment is utilized to prevent injury to the participant. With respect to strength training, protective equipment is also needed, as all the joints of the body may be subjected to extreme forces. In particular, the wrist joint is subjected to these extreme forces any time the trainee's hands utilize a weight bar during the course of strength training.
It is also important to protect the palm during weight lifting. This is particularly true during weight lifting exercises when the weight lifter is pushing the weights away from his body, such as with the bench press. FIG. 1 is a skeletal depiction of the hand. The cross hashed bones form the metacarpus consisting of the first 608, second 606, third 604, fourth 602, and fifth 600 metacarpals. The shaded portion near the wrist is the carpus 614. Lines 612, 610 show the rough dimensions of the deep and superficial palmar arches, respectively. The palm of the hand is formed skeletally by the metacarpus consisting of metacarpal bones 600-608. The metacarpus is the intermediate part of the hand skeleton located between phalanges, or bones of the fingers, and the carpus 614 which forms the connection to the forearm. The metacarpals form a transverse arch to which the rigid row of distal carpal bones are fixed. The peripheral metacarpals—those of the thumb 608 and little finger 600—form the sides of the cup of the palmar gutter as they are brought together, they deepen this concavity. The shape of the palm over these bones is formed primarily by the radial and ulnar arteries forming the deep 612 and superficial 610 palmar arches. The superficial palmar arch 610 reaches its apex at about the middle of the metacarpus, while the deep palmar arch 612 reaches its apex about one quarter of the way between the carpus 614 and phalanges, over the metacarpus. The ulnar nerve in particular, as well as the radial and median nerves, are affected by pressure to the palm. Exercises that put a large amount of pressure on these nerves leave the weight lifter susceptible to injury and syndromes, such as carpal tunnel syndrome and Guyon's canal syndrome.
Now referring to FIG. 2, a diagram of a human hand is provided. Overlaid are indications of approximate positions of the thumb fat pad 200, pinky fat pad 202, and metacarpal fat pad series 204. These fat pads are subcutaneous fatty deposits that effectively frame the palm. Thumb fat pad 200 is positioned below the thumb and extends down almost to the wrist. The term “thumb fat pad” as used herein is understood to be so positioned, as illustrated. Metacarpal fat pad series 204 are a series of smaller fat pads roughly covering the tops of metacarpals 600, 602, 604, 606 (as shown in FIG. 1) that together extend across the top of the palm below the fingers. The term “metacarpal fat pad series” as used herein is understood to be so positioned, as illustrated. Pinky fat pad 202 is positioned below the metacarpal fat pad series 204 and the pinky or little finger and, like the thumb fat pad 200, extends down almost to the wrist. The term “pinky fat pad” as used herein is understood to be so positioned, as illustrated. These pads 200, 202, 204 surround dotted area of vulnerability 206. Area of vulnerability 206 does not include fatty deposits, such as pads 200, 202, 204, and is therefore relatively unprotected compared to the rest of the palm. Comparing FIGS. 1 and 2, this area of vulnerability 206 corresponds approximately with the area defined within the lines 610, 612 corresponding to the superficial and deep palmar arches. The term “area of vulnerability” as used herein is understood to be so positioned between pads 200, 202, 204, and roughly corresponding to the area defined within lines 610, 612, as illustrated. It is this relatively unprotected and uncushioned portion of the palm that is most vulnerable to injury during weight lifting, particularly pushing exercises.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,950 discloses a grip assist apparatus designed to strengthen the weight lifter's grip and prevent a strength training injury by providing support to the wrist and hand. Although the invention of this patent is successful as a grip assist apparatus, it lacks sufficient palm protection. Moreover, it is designed such that the grip assists are hand specific, which requires the user to determine which grip is to be affixed to which hand and prevents a pair of grips from being used by two people who wish to use them on the same hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,901 discloses an arch support for a hand that is a plate made to conform to the palm of the hand and has support edges. Although capable of supporting the palm, the invention of this patent does not protect any other part of the hand or wrist that may be affected during strength training, nor does it provide any grip assistance as is preferable during strength training. Moreover, it is hand specific, so one must be purchased for each hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,374,439 discloses a bowler's wrist support that includes a flexible body adapted to be wrapped around the hand and wrist straps to hold it in position and a pocket within which fits a pad which is positioned at the palm of the hand. The pad is to fill the space between the palm of the hand and the surface of the ball to provide better contact with the ball to lead to better control. The pad is of foam plastic material which possesses some resilience. The pad is shaped so as to have two relatively straight edges meeting at a rounded corner where the pad is the thickest. This part of the pad fits at the base of the heel of the hand. An arcuate edge of the pad, where it has tapered to its minimum dimension, extends from the end of one of the straight edges and is positioned just below the base of the fingers on the palm of the hand when the wrist support is in use. From the other end of the arcuate edge is a short straight edge that is adjacent the side of the hand, which connects to another straight edge which extends near the base of the thumb. Although capable of aiding in bowling, this invention is ill-suited to provide palm support for weightlifting purposes. Specifically, the pad's flexible nature will adjust with changes in pressure, making changes in grip on a bar difficult. Moreover, as it is contoured to the palm, it is hand specific. In bowling, where most bowlers use only one hand, this is not a problem, but in weightlifting, this would require that the user again determine which grip is used on which hand and prevents a pair from being used by two people.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,495 discloses a weightlifting glove apparatus that includes a tapered wedge extending from the heel of the hand inwardly toward the inside palm for use in weightlifting when presses are used. The wedge of this invention is somewhat flexible so that it will curve or bend with the hand as the hand grasps the bar. The wedge includes a generally flat base which extends from the heel of the hand upwardly toward the palm. Extending between opposite ends of the base there is a rounded edge which defines the outer periphery of the wedge. The top or upper portion of the wedge is a generally smoothly continuous concave area. There is a smoothly continuous tapering convex bottom to the wedge which extends from the base outwardly toward a distal end. The distal end is remote from the base. The thickness of the wedge varies from a maximum at the base to a minimum at the distal end. The concave top and the convex bottom are somewhat parallel to each other, although there is a tapering toward each other from the base to the distal end, and both the concave top and the convex bottom taper towards the distal end. Although the wedge of this patent is directed toward weightlifting, it still has drawbacks. Specifically, its flexible nature will adjust with changes in pressure, making changes in grip on a bar difficult. Moreover, as it covers a relatively large area of the hand, and is contoured to the hand, it is hand specific, so one must be purchased for each hand.
There is prior art for devices of the hand that may be worn on either hand. U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,880, for example, discloses a lightweight wrist brace that has a flexible base which extends along the palm and receives a stiffening member within a pocket and is capable of being worn on either a right or a left hand. Although useful for some purposes, this wrist brace would be ill-suited for use in weightlifting. Specifically, it is designed to restrain the movement of the wrist, and the ability to use a full range of wrist motion during weight lifting is preferable. Moreover, it protects only a very small portion of the hand, leaving many areas of the hand that may be affected by weight lifting exposed. Also, as it includes two hand straps that wrap around the hand and are connected to each other across the dorsal area of the hand, it may unduly restrict a gripping motion of the hand, whereas an unfettered grip is extremely important in weightlifting.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,399 discloses a gripping sleeve for tightly gripping an object by hand. The gripping sleeve is formed of a plate formed of a tightly gripping or clinging material, the plate being connected to a wrist band by a connecting web. The gripping sleeve can be put on a user's wrist with the wrist band, so that the plate lies in the palm of his or her hand. The plate is, preferably, in the shape of a circle. Although capable of providing grip assistance and to be worn on either hand, this invention has its disadvantages. It provides no additional palm support beyond the plate itself. Only the narrow web covers the base of the hand, leaving much of the base of the hand exposed and prone to irritation and/or injury.
Therefore there is a need for a grip assistance apparatus that may be worn on either hand; that includes a palm protection; that adequately protects the parts of the hand that are affected during weightlifting; and that does not unduly restrict the hand's gripping motion.